Overview

In our increasingly connected, digital world, news spreads quickly and without the constraints of national boundaries. Journalists are frequently called upon to report on diverse global issues and this Master’s course prepares you for practice and analysis of global journalism and media.

Currently, taught by practiced journalists and presenters, you will in addition have opportunities to attend guest lectures (subject to availability), which amongst others, have previously been delivered by the BBC Director General and Channel 4 founder, as well as presenters Jon Snow and Jeremy Paxman.

Gaining hands-on experience, you will be expected to work as part of a team to write articles, as well as edit, design and publish a digitally-distributed magazine, Global Eye. In the 2016 edition, one student predicted Wales’ success in the European Championships, while another wrote an analysis on the perceptions around immigration – one of the key issues in the European Union ‘remain or leave’ vote in the UK.

Course information

If you’re interested in a career in the media industry worldwide, our course is a comprehensive interdisciplinary introduction to an advancement of global journalism and public relations, which is underpinned by hands-on professional practice from the outset.

We will consider how news and other related outputs are produced and consumed in the modern world – and why media and communication is no longer an issue of control and concern either for the Nation State or a factor limited to national economies or internal affairs alone. Examples include Wikileaks exposés and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ work.

We cover the different functions, communication policies and activities of transnational and international, governmental and nongovernmental organisations or institutions, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the European Union (EU) and World Trade Organisation (WTO).

We will analyse the role of international media and communications, for example, exploring ethical or socio-cultural issues, using specific examples to demonstrate how the media constructs identities and reinforces stereotypes through social stratification, nation, class, gender, race, religion, sexuality and age. We will also examine some of the contemporary global issues facing and addressed by various media – drawing from recent headlines. For example, in recent years, we have looked at Middle East conflict, UNESCO recognition of Palestine and US withdrawal of funding to UNESCO, climate change, environmental disasters, global health challenges, global security, weaponisation of media e.g. propaganda and fake news, freedom of expression restrictions and resistance, sexual harassment and resistance e.g. the #MeToo campaign.

We provide general tips on how to build and maintain networks of contacts, peers and audiences, using both conventional techniques and social media methods. For example, we will cover how to establish and build contacts, carry out pre-assignment and on-assignment research, deliver outputs in consideration of deadlines and time zones, work with others and consider safety measures.

You will plan, coordinate and implement specific ‘assignments’ – organising photo-shoots, interviews and video/audio recording, often in multiple locations – working to a series of tight deadlines, as you would be expected to in professional employment. You will develop a portfolio of journalistic work across the segments of study in a wide range of formats and subject areas – anything from news to features and documentaries.